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MUSKEGON TOWNSHIP, MI - A new effort targeting local college students could help Public Health-Muskegon County fight the area's high rate of sexually transmitted diseases.

The health department's disease intervention specialists, Brandon Burrel and Art Matten, began offering free chlamydia and gonorrhea testing at Muskegon Community College and Baker College of Muskegon this fall.

The new effort is part of the agency's ongoing education and outreach duties, which entails providing testing at places like Mercy Life Counseling and the Muskegon County Jail.

The health department hired Burrel and Matten in the last two years to help the agency with sex partner notification duties, a time-consuming process that entails notifying infected residents to ensure they've been treated and to identify and treat their partners.

Muskegon County had the state's third highest rate of chlamydia cases per capita in 2013, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

More than half of those infections occurred in residents 24 years and younger, revealing the urgent need to reach traditionally-aged college students.

Burrel worked with MCC's student success and student life department led by Sally Birkam to get monthly testing approved at the campus, located at 221 Quarterline Road in Muskegon Township.

The service, which takes place every second Tuesday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in Room 305, began in September.

Baker College of Muskegon officials followed suit in October, allowing monthly testing the first Thursday of every month from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in room M114.

Although the free service targets students who are considered "at-risk," the events are open to the public, Burrel said.

The department relies on a non-invasive testing approach by using a urine collection kit for men and women.

The urine kits, unlike endocervical and urethral swabbing, don't detect STD infections that can be transmitted through the throat and anus and linger there for months and or even years, but Burrel said it's better than nothing.

"We're trying to promote that as much as possible. It's hard to get kids to come down and get tested," Burrel said. The campus has publicized the service in a student newsletter and through flier distribution, he said.

Neither MCC nor Baker have student health clinics that are customary at larger institutions, like Grand Valley State and Central Michigan universities.

Some higher education officials attribute this to the fact that many community colleges and smaller educational institutions have little-to-no on-campus residents.

But MCC President Dale Nesbary said other factors can impact whether health centers and services are offered on college campuses, like the availability of allied health services and the proximity of primary care services in the local community.

Nesbary added that MCC could offer more health services to students in the future.

"We are currently discussing the possibility of partnering with a health care provider to site a primary care clinic on campus to service MCC and the broader community," Nesbary said.

Now that the department has hit local college campuses, interventionists are focused on getting inside the county's high schools, particularly those located in areas where chlamydia rates are the highest, Burrel said.

Data from 2009 shows that the highest number of STD infections affect residents living in the 49444, 49442 and 49440 zip codes, areas that include the city of Muskegon, Muskegon Heights and Muskegon Township.

Department epidemiologist Jean Chang said although the statistics are nearly six years old, the data still holds true in terms of STD rate distribution in the community.

Only two high schools in Muskegon County, Muskegon High School and Muskegon Heights Public Academy, have health centers, both of which are operated by Hackley Community Care Center.

Further, only the Teen Health Center at Muskegon High School offers STD diagnoses and treatment. The facility serves as the "network hub" for the four satellite school-based health centers Hackley Community Care opened during the 2014-15 school year.

Those satellite locations include the Heights Academy, Muskegon Covenant Academy, and Nelson and Marquette elementary schools.

Staff at the Teen Health Center at Muskegon High School said in 2012 that STD testing was the third most popular service behind sports exams and hearing tests.

The center, like all Michigan K-12 schools, are prohibited from supplying condoms and other contraceptives to students.

Hackley Community Care, along with Muskegon Family Care, Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan and local emergency departments, handle a bulk of the facility-based STD testing in the area, health department officials have said.

The health department had offered the service at its Apple Avenue headquarters until it received permission from county officials to stop so staff could focus on partner notification earlier this year.

Today, Planned Parenthood of West and Northern Michigan offers STD testing at the department, along with other family planning services.

The organization's spokeswoman, Julie McKeiver, added that the local affiliate also teaches the Safer Choices Project comprehensive sexuality education program in select Muskegon schools.

The project, designed for students ages 12-19, is taught and managed by health education specialists that are Planned Parenthood employees, McKeiver said.

During the school day, the program reaches students at Orchard View High School and at Oakridge and Muskegon middle schools.

The program also reaches teens in after school and community programs in Muskegon Heights and at the Teen Health Center, Juvenile Transition Center and Growing Goods Muskegon Middle School program.

McKeiver said the sex-ed effort is sometimes called an abstinence-plus education program because while it teaches that abstinence is the most effective way to stay sexually healthy and safe, it also provides skills for "realistically practicing abstinence" and safe sex information for teens who do decide to engage in intercourse.

The program is part of the federally-funded Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative awarded by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services through its Taking Pride in Prevention program, McKeiver said.